Patricia Grigson-Kennedy

Patricia Grigson-Kennedy, PhD, is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics at Penn State College of Medicine. She leads the Penn State Addiction Center for Translation and has been continuously funded by NIH for over 28 years, including an NIH MERIT Award. Her research focuses on substance abuse and addiction mechanisms, with translational studies exploring treatments like GLP-1 agonists for opioid use disorder.

Educations: Postdoctoral Fellowship at Penn State College of Medicine; PhD in Psychology from Rutgers University.

Research interests include behavioral neuroscience of addiction, drug dependency, and translational therapies. She has authored over 117 publications and led 9 NIH-funded grants, including studies on opioid use disorder interventions and addiction symposiums.

Awards include NIH MERIT Award and Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. She mentors students and postdocs in addiction research and directs the Neuroscience PhD Program.